ADVISORYFROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANSSUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHTFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 06, 2003 OV-4 | CONTACT: (202) 225-7601 |
Houghton Announces Hearing on the Use of Private Collection Agencies to Improve IRS Debt Collection
Congressman
Amo Houghton (R-NY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on
Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on
private collection agencies. The
hearing will take place on Tuesday, May 13, 2003, in the main Committee hearing
room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
In
view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this
hearing will be from invited witnesses only.
Witnesses will include the Honorable Mark Everson, Commissioner of the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate.
BACKGROUND:
Each year, the IRS collects over $2 trillion in tax revenue from all
sources. A small percentage of this amount is assessed, but not
collected. The IRS has 10 years to collect newly assessed taxes.
Over the past decade, the total inventory of unpaid tax assessments has
more than doubled. It has grown from $130 billion in 1992 to over
$280 billion in March 2003.
Much of this amount represents tax debts that cannot be collected, due
to death or bankruptcy, but the IRS estimates that about $78 billion is
collectible. The amount judged to be collectible has grown by 12
percent during the past 2 years, and the inactive portion that the IRS is
not currently pursuing has grown by 38 percent. As of March, the IRS
had identified over $13 billion
in tax debts that can only be collected if the IRS has more resources.
The Bush Administration is highly concerned about the
growth in the inventory of uncollected taxes, and the IRS issued a Request for
Information that appeared in the Federal Register in January 2002 to seek input
from private collection agencies (PCAs) on how PCAs could assist the IRS with its collection efforts,
while preserving important taxpayer protections in existing law. Using this information, the Administration
developed a proposal that appeared in the fiscal year 2004 budget request for
the IRS. Chairman Houghton introduced
legislation (H.R. 1169)
that would implement the Administration’s proposal.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Houghton
stated, “We all know that it is a duty of citizenship to abide by the rules and
pay our taxes. Yet, in the event that
the rules are not followed, the IRS is unfortunately not able to adequately
enforce this obligation due to a lack of funds.
Enforcement is inconsistent at best.
The Administration is looking for innovative solutions to this problem,
and I applaud them for it.”
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on the Administration’s proposal to use
private collection agencies to support the IRS’s collection efforts and
Chairman Houghton’s bill to implement the proposal.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION
OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Please
Note:
Due to the change in House mail policy, any person or organization
wishing to submit awritten statement for
the printed record of the hearing should send it electronically to
hearingclerks.waysandmeans@mail.house.gov,
along with a fax copy to (202) 225-2610, by the close of business, Tuesday, May 27, 2003.
Those filing written statements who wish to have their statements
distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing should deliver
their 200 copies to the Subcommittee on Oversight in room 1136 Longworth
House Office Building, in an open and searchable package 48 hours before the hearing. The U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-packaged
deliveries to all House Office Buildings.
FORMATTING
REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a
witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or
any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform
to the guidelines listed below. Any
statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed,
but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the
Committee.
1.
Due to the change in House mail policy, all statements and any
accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted electronically to
hearingclerks.waysandmeans@mail.house.gov,
along with a fax copy to (202) 225-2610, in Word Perfect or MS Word format and
MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will
rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2.
Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be
accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit
material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these
specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by
the Committee.
3.
Any statements must include a list of all clients, persons, or
organizations on whose behalf the witness appears. A supplemental sheet must accompany each
statement listing the name, company, address, telephone
and fax numbers of each witness.
Note:
All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World
Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.
The Committee seeks to make its facilities
accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special
accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance
of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with
regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above. |